Commercial flights are capable of transporting a greater and greater number of passengers over longer and longer periods of time. Elderly individuals also are more and more persuaded to take the plane. It therefore happens more and more frequently that a passenger is a victim of distress or an injury during a flight. When severe distress is involved, the faster first aid is given to him, the greater the passenger's chances of survival. It therefore is advisable to provide means making it possible to deliver first aid to the victim right on board the airplane.
From the U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,952 there is known an arrangement that can be set up during flight in order to provide first-aid care to a passenger. When not in use, the arrangement according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,952 consists of a cabinet installed in a partition positioned transversely in an airplane cabin, in front of a row of seats. This arrangement advantageously then occupies only a fairly small space in the cabin. The cabinet contains a foldaway berth, as well as compartments containing various requisites for diagnosis and medical care. In order to set up the berth, the cabinet is opened and it is spread out over two rows of seats the back of which has been turned down. The berth then rests on a support provided in the cabinet and on a base provided for this purpose, articulated on the berth and initially stored in the cabinet.
An arrangement according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,952 has several drawbacks. On the one hand, the layout is such that it allows only a very poor access to the victim and to at least a portion of the medical equipment housed in this arrangement. It thus is not possible, for example, to stand facing the patient at the side of the patient's head. On the other hand, the care that then can be given is very limited. In fact, it is difficult, or even impossible, to administer complex medical care to a victim occupying the berth described in this document.